Hiring a virtual assistant sounds simple until you start comparing services, hourly limits, assistant quality, and what you actually get for the monthly fee. Time Etc has been around for years and positions itself as a premium virtual assistant service for entrepreneurs, executives, and growing businesses that need flexible support without making a full-time hire.
But is Time Etc worth it in 2026? That depends largely on how many hours of support you need and how closely you want your assistant integrated into your team. Time Etc can be a practical option for companies looking for part-time administrative help, calendar management, research, inbox support, and other recurring tasks. As your workload grows, though, comparing Time Etc pricing with the cost of a full-time virtual assistant becomes increasingly important.
In this Time Etc review, we’ll break down how the service works, what its plans include, what customers say, and where the model makes the most sense. We’ll also compare Time Etc with hiring a dedicated virtual assistant so you can decide whether a fractional VA service or a full-time remote hire is the better fit for your business.
If you're researching virtual assistant services because your team is running out of bandwidth, the goal isn't simply to find someone who can handle a few tasks. It's to choose a hiring model that matches the amount of support your business actually needs.
Time Etc Review: Quick Verdict
Time Etc is a strong option for businesses that need a few hours of experienced virtual assistant support each week without hiring someone full-time. Its plans currently range from 10 to 60 hours per month, with pricing starting at $390 per month.
The service stands out for its U.S.-based assistants, flexible monthly plans, matching process, and ability to add multiple assistants without an extra fee. Time Etc also includes features such as time tracking, a task management dashboard, holiday and sickness cover, and the option to switch plans or cancel as your needs change.
The main consideration is scale. Time Etc works best when you need ongoing fractional support. If you consistently need someone for several hours every day, the economics and working relationship can look very different from hiring a dedicated full-time virtual assistant.
Bottom line: Time Etc makes the most sense when you have recurring work to delegate but don't yet have enough of it to justify a full-time position. For businesses that want one person embedded in the team and available throughout the workweek, a dedicated hiring model may be the better long-term fit.
What Is Time Etc and How Does It Work?
Time Etc is a virtual assistant service that connects businesses, entrepreneurs, and executives with experienced U.S.-based assistants for ongoing part-time support. Instead of hiring an employee directly, you purchase a monthly block of hours and work with a dedicated assistant remotely.
The process is fairly straightforward. Time Etc starts with a consultation to understand what you need help with, how you prefer to work, and the type of experience you're looking for. The company then recommends an assistant based on those requirements. According to Time Etc, its assistants have an average of 12 years of experience and go through a multi-step selection process before joining the platform.
You'll have a chance to review the proposed assistant and speak with them before moving forward. If the match doesn't feel right, Time Etc says it will continue looking, and you can also switch assistants later without an additional charge.
Once you're matched, you work directly with your assistant through channels such as email, text, phone, Zoom, Slack, or Time Etc's app. Tasks can range from inbox and calendar management to research, administrative work, and other recurring business support.
Time Etc also tracks the time spent on each task, so you're paying for the hours your assistant actually uses rather than reserving a traditional workday. You can view activity through the client dashboard and adjust your plan as your workload changes.
Another useful feature is the ability to work with additional assistants without paying an extra matching fee. That can be helpful when you need different skill sets but still want to keep your support within the same service.
The model is designed primarily for ongoing support rather than isolated projects. That distinction matters: Time Etc is closer to having a fractional assistant than hiring a full-time member of your team. How valuable that arrangement is ultimately comes down to how consistently you need help and how many hours you're likely to use each month.
Time Etc Pricing and What You Get
Time Etc uses a monthly subscription model based on the number of assistant hours you need. Current Time Etc pricing starts at $390 per month for 10 hours and goes up to $2,160 per month for 60 hours.
The hourly rate gets slightly lower as you move up the plans:
All four plans include a dedicated U.S.-based assistant, expert matching, the ability to add additional assistants, team sharing, and Time Etc's satisfaction guarantee. You can also change plans or cancel as your needs evolve.
Time Etc includes more than the assistant's working hours. Clients also get access to a task management dashboard and mobile app, a dedicated Client Happiness manager, holiday and sickness coverage, branded company email options, and time tracking that records work down to the second. You can communicate with your assistant through email, text, phone, or Zoom.
There's also no setup fee or long-term contract. Plans renew monthly, and Time Etc says clients can add extra hours during busier months.
How Much Does Time Etc Cost Per Year?
The monthly price can look manageable when you only need a few hours of help, but the annual cost gives you a better picture of the commitment.
For businesses using an assistant for a handful of recurring tasks each month, that flexibility can be valuable. The calculation changes as the workload grows and becomes more consistent.
A company spending $2,160 per month receives 60 hours of assistance, or roughly 15 hours per week. At that point, it's worth comparing the service with the cost of hiring a full-time virtual assistant in Latin America, particularly if you want one person working closely with your team throughout the week.
That doesn't make one model universally better. Time Etc is priced around flexible access to experienced assistants, while full-time hiring is built around dedicated capacity. The better value depends on how much work you actually have to delegate.
What Can a Time Etc Virtual Assistant Help With?
Time Etc assistants can handle a fairly broad mix of administrative, operational, and light marketing work. The service is especially useful for recurring tasks that take time away from higher-value work but don't necessarily require a full-time employee.
According to Time Etc, common tasks include email and calendar management, research, data entry, document preparation, travel booking, expense organization, customer communication, social media support, and website updates.
Some of the most common use cases include:
- Administrative support: Managing schedules, organizing inboxes, formatting documents, entering data, preparing meeting notes, and handling routine business administration.
- Research: Finding suppliers, researching prospects, gathering facts and figures, locating contact information, and supporting content or market research.
- Customer support: Responding to customer inquiries, managing support tickets, following up with customers, maintaining FAQ documents, and updating customer records.
- Sales administration: Updating a CRM, researching prospects, preparing proposals, scheduling meetings, creating invoices, and maintaining lead records.
- Marketing support: Preparing content, updating websites, researching content ideas, scheduling social media posts, and helping execute existing campaigns.
- Email management: Sorting messages, flagging priorities, drafting responses, scheduling follow-ups, creating filters, and maintaining contact lists.
- E-commerce and business operations: Supporting Shopify stores, updating records, coordinating projects, and handling other process-driven tasks.
There are some boundaries worth knowing. Time Etc explicitly says its assistants don't perform cold calling or cold emailing as part of sales support, and its marketing assistants are positioned more around executing an existing strategy than creating the company's overall marketing strategy.
That's an important distinction when evaluating the service. Time Etc is strongest when you already know what needs to be done and want an experienced assistant to take recurring execution off your plate. If you're hiring for a specialized function that requires deep ownership, strategic decision-making, or full-time availability, you may be better served by recruiting someone specifically for that role.
Time Etc Pros and Cons
Time Etc has a clear strength: it gives businesses access to experienced virtual assistants without requiring a full-time hire. The trade-off is that the model becomes less attractive as your support needs grow.
Where Time Etc Stands Out
The biggest advantage is flexibility. You can get ongoing virtual assistant support without recruiting, onboarding, and managing a full-time employee from scratch.
The service also reduces some of the risk of hiring independently. Time Etc handles the initial matching process, lets clients switch assistants, and provides backup coverage when an assistant is unavailable. That can be valuable for founders and small teams that want dependable support without building an internal hiring process.
The U.S.-based talent pool may also appeal to companies that prioritize cultural familiarity, native-level English communication, and overlapping working hours.
Where Time Etc May Fall Short
The biggest limitation is cost at scale. A business using the 60-hour plan pays $2,160 per month for roughly 15 hours of support per week. That can work well for a fractional role, but it becomes harder to justify if your task list starts looking like a full-time position.
There is also a difference between having access to an experienced assistant and having someone fully embedded in your company. A dedicated employee can spend more time learning your systems, attending recurring meetings, owning workflows, and building deeper business context.
Time Etc can still be a strong fit for the right workload. The key is matching the service to the support you actually need, rather than choosing it simply because it's easier than hiring.
Time Etc Reviews: What Customers Say
Customer feedback on Time Etc is largely positive, though it varies depending on where you look. On Trustpilot, Time Etc currently has a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 278 reviews, with 93% of reviewers giving the service five stars.
That gives us a much larger pool of recent feedback than platforms such as G2, where Time Etc currently has only one review. Because the G2 sample is so small, it isn't particularly useful for judging the overall customer experience.
What Customers Like
Positive Time Etc reviews frequently mention assistant quality, professionalism, communication, and the matching process. Recent customers also highlight the ability to begin with a small number of hours and increase support as their needs grow.
Another recurring theme is the service surrounding the assistant. Customers mention responsive Client Happiness managers and appreciate having someone from Time Etc available to help with matching or resolve issues.
Some recent reviewers also describe using assistants for work beyond basic scheduling and inbox management, including social media, event planning, website-related tasks, and project support. This suggests the experience can vary considerably depending on the assistant you're matched with and their background.
Common Complaints
The positive ratings don't mean every match works perfectly.
Some customers report having to change assistants, dealing with assistant turnover, or spending additional time getting a new VA aligned with their workflows. One long-term customer, for example, described having several assistants come and go before finding a better fit.
There are also recent complaints related to billing and cancellation. A small number of reviewers describe difficulties canceling subscriptions or resolving billing changes, although Time Etc has publicly responded to these complaints and, in some cases, issued refunds.
The broader takeaway from Time Etc customer reviews is fairly consistent: the quality of the individual assistant and the strength of the match have a major influence on the experience. When the match works, customers often describe Time Etc as a significant productivity boost. When it doesn't, changing assistants can add friction to something businesses are paying to make easier.
That makes the matching process worth paying attention to. Use the initial conversation to be specific about the tasks you need handled, the tools your company uses, your preferred communication style, and how proactive you expect the assistant to be.
Time Etc vs. Hiring a Full-Time Virtual Assistant
The biggest decision isn't necessarily whether Time Etc is a good virtual assistant service. It's whether fractional support or a dedicated full-time assistant better matches your workload.
Time Etc is designed around buying a set number of hours each month. That works well when you have clearly defined tasks that only require a few hours each week. Hiring a full-time virtual assistant gives you much more capacity and lets one person become more deeply involved in your workflows.
Here's how the two models compare:
When Time Etc Makes More Sense
Time Etc can be the more practical choice when you only need 10 or 20 hours of help per month. You avoid hiring for a role that doesn't yet have enough work to fill a full week, while still getting recurring support from an experienced assistant.
It's also appealing if your workload fluctuates. A founder might need help organizing a calendar, researching prospects, preparing documents, and handling a few recurring administrative tasks without needing someone available throughout every business day.
When a Full-Time VA Starts to Make More Sense
The calculation changes as your workload grows.
Time Etc's 60-hour plan costs $2,160 per month, which gives you about 15 hours of support per week. If you need someone for several hours every day, attend regular meetings, manage ongoing processes, or take ownership of a function, a dedicated assistant can give you substantially more working capacity each month.
That can also make an operational difference. A full-time assistant has more opportunity to learn your systems, understand how your company works, build relationships with coworkers, and take ownership of recurring processes instead of simply completing individual tasks.
South helps U.S. companies hire pre-vetted remote professionals in Latin America, including virtual assistants and executive assistants. Because LATAM professionals can work closely with U.S. teams in overlapping time zones, companies can build a dedicated remote role without relying on an hourly assistant model.
For occasional support, Time Etc's flexibility is one of its biggest advantages. For a workload that's becoming a permanent part of the business, a full-time hire may offer more capacity and continuity for the money.
Who Should Use Time Etc?
Time Etc is best suited to businesses that need reliable part-time support without enough recurring work to justify a full-time hire.
It can be a good fit if you:
- Need around 10 to 20 hours of administrative help each month.
- Want support with inboxes, calendars, research, documents, customer communication, or other recurring tasks.
- Prefer working with U.S.-based virtual assistants.
- Want a service to handle matching rather than recruiting independently.
- Have a workload that changes from month to month.
- Need access to additional assistants for different tasks without building a larger internal team.
Time Etc can also work well for founders and executives who have reached the point where administrative work is taking too much time, but the workload still isn't large enough for a dedicated position.
When You May Want Another Option
A different hiring model may make more sense if you need someone available throughout most of the workweek.
That includes businesses looking for:
- 30–40+ hours of support each week.
- One person who can become deeply integrated into the company.
- Ownership of ongoing processes rather than individual delegated tasks.
- Specialized expertise beyond general virtual assistant work.
- A long-term team member who attends recurring meetings and works closely with multiple departments.
At that point, hiring a dedicated remote virtual assistant may provide more capacity and continuity.
The simplest way to decide is to look at the workload rather than the job title. If you have a handful of tasks to delegate each week, Time Etc can be a convenient solution. If you've already built enough work to keep someone busy every day, you're probably closer to needing a full-time hire.
Is Time Etc Worth It?
Time Etc can be worth it if you need experienced, part-time virtual assistant support and value flexibility more than having someone available full-time.
Its monthly plans make it relatively easy to delegate recurring administrative work without going through a traditional hiring process. You get a dedicated assistant, matching support, time tracking, backup coverage, and the ability to adjust your plan as your workload changes.
The strongest use case is clear: businesses with consistent tasks to delegate but only need a few hours of support each week. At 10 or 20 hours per month, Time Etc can provide useful extra capacity without creating a full-time position.
The value becomes less straightforward as your needs increase. The 60-hour plan costs $2,160 per month while still providing considerably fewer hours than a full-time schedule. If you consistently need someone involved in daily operations, attending meetings, managing processes, and owning ongoing work, comparing Time Etc with a dedicated remote hire becomes increasingly important.
Customer feedback is also worth considering. Time Etc has strong overall reviews, and customers often highlight assistant quality and support. At the same time, the quality of your individual match can greatly affect the experience, so be specific about your expectations during the matching process.
Ultimately, Time Etc is best viewed as a premium fractional virtual assistant service. It offers a convenient way to buy experienced support by the hour. For companies with a growing, predictable workload, a full-time assistant may provide better long-term capacity and deeper integration with the team.
Need More Than a Few Hours of Virtual Assistant Support?
If your workload has grown beyond a few hours of delegated tasks each week, it may be time to hire someone who can work with your team full-time and take ownership of recurring responsibilities.
South helps U.S. companies find pre-vetted remote talent across Latin America, including virtual assistants and executive assistants who can work in overlapping U.S. time zones.
Instead of purchasing a limited number of hours each month, you can hire a dedicated professional who becomes part of your day-to-day operations. South helps with sourcing, vetting, salary benchmarking, and matching candidates based on the skills and experience your role requires.
You also get one consolidated monthly invoice, no minimum commitment, and a free replacement if the hire doesn't work out.
If you're ready for more consistent support, find remote talent in Latin America with South.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much does Time Etc cost?
Time Etc pricing starts at $390 per month for 10 hours of virtual assistant support. Other standard plans cost $760 for 20 hours, $1,480 for 40 hours, and $2,160 for 60 hours per month. The effective hourly rate ranges from $39 to $36 depending on the plan.
Is Time Etc legitimate?
Yes. Time Etc has operated since 2007 and provides virtual assistant services to entrepreneurs, executives, and businesses. It also has a strong customer rating on Trustpilot, although individual experiences depend heavily on the assistant you're matched with.
Where are Time Etc virtual assistants located?
Time Etc's U.S. service provides U.S.-based virtual assistants who can work during U.S. business hours. The company also operates in the U.K., and its assistant application process is open to eligible U.S. and U.K. residents.
Does Time Etc offer full-time virtual assistants?
Time Etc's standard individual plans are structured around fractional support, with published options ranging from 10 to 60 hours per month. Businesses that need someone working a traditional full-time schedule may want to compare Time Etc with hiring a dedicated full-time virtual assistant.
Do unused Time Etc hours roll over?
Time Etc says unused hours can roll over to the following month. Its current plan page explicitly lists rollover for the 20-, 40-, and 60-hour plans. If rollover is important to you, confirm the current terms for your specific plan before subscribing.
Can you change your Time Etc assistant?
Yes. If the initial match isn't right or your needs change, Time Etc says you can switch assistants without an additional charge. The company can also match you with additional assistants when you need different skills.
Can you cancel Time Etc at any time?
Yes. Time Etc says clients can change plans or cancel without a long-term commitment. Plans renew monthly, so it's still worth reviewing the current cancellation terms before starting your subscription.
What is Time Etc best for?
Time Etc is best for businesses, founders, and executives who need ongoing part-time administrative support rather than a full-time employee. It can work particularly well for recurring tasks such as calendar management, inbox organization, research, data entry, customer communication, and general business administration.
Is Time Etc worth the money?
Time Etc can be worth the cost when you only need a limited number of assistant hours each month and value convenient matching, experienced assistants, and flexible support. If you regularly need several hours of help every day, comparing the cost with a dedicated remote hire can help you determine which model provides better long-term value.
